FROBISHER, Sask. – It’s a cool, damp morning in southeastern Saskatchewan and the forecast is for more rain, and perhaps even frost.
It’s early October, and Elwin and Isabel Byers of Frobisher, Sask., haven’t started their harvest yet.
Surprisingly, they don’t seem worried.
The Byers are retired and as a hobby they grow Valiant grapes on their acreage west of the village.
By this time most years, the grapes, which taste similar to a Concord, would have been picked and many processed into jam, jelly, juice or wine or given to friends.
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But the Byers have only 13 plants, and the process of clipping off the grape clusters doesn’t take long when their friends help out.
“The rain will clean the fruit off, and I don’t think a bit of frost would hurt the grapes at all,” Elwin said.
Isabel said many people are surprised to learn grapes can be grown in Saskatchewan, and are even more astounded when she tells them they harvested 80 gallons last year.
The venture’s success even surprised her.
“I became interested in planting them after I watched a show on television. I thought the vines were pretty,” she said. “Then I found there was something more – the grapes.”
When she bought four grape cuttings from a store in Estevan, Sask., 10 years ago, Isabel said she initially wondered if the plants would survive, and questioned whether they would ever bear fruit.
For a while the plants’ good looks were all that kept them from being tilled under. The Byers didn’t know how to care for the plants and didn’t put in a trellis for them to climb. The vines grew uncontrolled from the ground up. Isabel suspects birds and raccoons ate whatever grapes managed to grow.
After a few years of this, they decided they would move the plants to a sunnier location and look after them better. They had always used netting to prevent birds from eating their strawberries and saskatoons, and decided it would work as well for the grapes. They also put straw under the plants to suppress weed growth and retain moisture.
“Plus, it’s something to kneel on when you’re snipping off the clusters of grapes,” Elwin said.
The Byers say these changes provided grapes rather than just vines. When it comes time to harvest, one or two people lift up the vines and another person snips off the clusters of grapes. The only bad part of the process is that each year the plants get heavier.
If the Byers plant more grapes in the future, they plan to put in a trellis so the tendrils have something to wrap around, the plants will grow up and harvesting will be easier.
